Pornhub sues the EU to challenge new content moderation obligations
Kyiv • UNN
Pornhub, Xvideos, and Stripchat have sued the EU to challenge new content moderation obligations under the Digital Services Act, which classifies them as "very large online platforms" requiring stricter rules to combat illegal and harmful content.
One of the world's most popular porn sites has asked the court to suspend the rule requiring the company to disclose in detail the library of ads placed on the Pornhub platform. Other European porn companies have also filed lawsuits.
This is reported by UNN with reference to Politico and Le Monde.
Details
Pornhub sues the EU over online content rules adopted by Brussels in the EU - representatives of Pornhub and Xvideos have asked the court to suspend the rule that requires them to create detailed public access to the advertising their platforms contain.
Stripchat has also filed a lawsuit against the European Commission, but it is not yet clear which EU law the company is challenging.
In December, the European Commission recognized three porn sites as very large online platforms under the DSA. If an online platform is visited by more than 45 million Europeans, additional obligations are needed to combat illegal and harmful content. In particular, the potential introduction of mechanisms to block minors from accessing the website is indicated.
However, Pornhub denies that it belongs to the category of a very large online platform.
Pornhub previously reported that it had 33 million monthly users, while Stripchat said it was visited by almost 32 million Europeans every month.
Other achievements of XVIdeos include the company's identification of more than 160 million users in the EU.
AddendumAddendum
According to Le Monde, in France, on March 6, the Council of State announced that it had submitted the issue of blocking pornographic websites that do not check the age of their visitors to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The initial blocking request was filed by the broadcasting regulator with the Paris court in 2021 and concerned five pornographic sites: Pornhub, Xvideos, Tukif, xhHamster, and XNXX.
The court's decision is still subject to appeals against the executive decree, and an appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union will add another major delay.
It is stated that four years after the adoption of the law of July 30, 2020, not a single procedure for blocking a pornographic site has been successful so far.
Another request targeting nine websites (including the leader Pornhub) led by the associations e-Enfance and La Voix de l'enfant was recently transferred by the Court of Cassation to the Paris Court of Appeal.
Recall
The EU has classified Pornhub, Xvideos, and Stripchat as "very large online platforms," making them subject to new content moderation rules under the Digital Services Act with potential fines for non-compliance.
PornHub has introduced new rules that require written consent from all participants in a video, in addition to identity verification. This measure is aimed at preventing the distribution of non-consensual content and so-called "revenge porn.
